suzuguru
SILVER Star
So a few months ago, I started noticing that my key was having trouble occasionally in the ignition cylinder. It was just kind of hanging here and there. Eventually, it started getting worse to the point where it wouldn't turn it sometimes. After finding out how expensive they are at Toyota, and that they don't match them to your original key, I decided to lube it up real good. After doing that, it worked perfectly for about 2 weeks, until it started doing it again. A complete lock set (ignition, doors, pass. airbag switch) from Toyota is $600! So, yesterday I came home and decided to remove the ignition cylinder and take it apart to find out what the issue was. It was extremely easy to get the cylinder out. However, Toyota apparently never meant for the cylinder to be removed from the housing, because the bezel was swedged onto the housing. I removed it anyway by filing down the swedged pins, and removing another small pin. Once in there, I found that 2 of the wafers (tumblers) were a split type. I guess the purpose of that was to make it harder to pick the lock. Anyway, I assumed that these were probably causing the problem. I removed each of those, along with the associated springs, and put it all back together. It has worked flawlessly so far. Only time will tell if it's a permanent fix.
